One common use of a physical layer management (PLM) system is to guide a technician in moving, adding, or changing a connection made at a patch panel or other device where connections are made using cables. This is commonly done as a part of a larger “work order” that includes one or more steps.
In one common implementation, the patch panel includes a light emitting diode for each port of the patch panel and a controller that interacts with a remotely located management system. To guide a technician in performing a step of a work order that affects a particular port of the patch panel, the management system can illuminate (or otherwise actuate) the light emitting diode that is associated with that port in order to visually identify the port for the technician. This is done to assist the technician in locating the correct port. That is, the light emitting diode is used to provide a visual indication of the affected port.
Such systems are typically designed to be used to guide a single technician in performing a single work order at a time. That is, such systems are not designed to guide multiple technicians in performing multiple work orders.